Window fan assembly with widthadjustment provision



G. A. DELF ETAL 2,577,845

WINDOW FAN. ASSEMBLY WITH WIDTH-ADJUSTMENT PROVISION Dec. 11, 1951 Filed Dec. 16, 1949 FIG. 1.

INVENTORS GEORGE A. DELF By ROBERT E. KORTUM Patented Dec. 11, i951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WINDOW FAN ASSEMBLY WITH WIDTH- ADJUSTMENT PROVISION George A. Deli, Creve Cour, and Robert E. Kortum, Robertson, Mo.

Application December 16, 1949, Serial No. 133,392

Claims. (CI. 9894) This invention relates to improvements in window fan assemblies with width-adjustment provisions, and more particularly to a simplified, positively-acting provision for shifting laterally of a fan supporting frame, one or more side panels or wing elements adjustably connected to or forming a part of the fan frame, whereby'to extend the fan assembly across the window opening.

The applicants are well aware that numerous attempts have heretofore been made to attain a simplified yet positive assembly either as a part of, or as accessory to window fan assemblies, for the purpose noted. However, those thus far offered to the trade for such purpose present one or several of the shortcomings of excessive costs, unwarranted complication, or the necessity for skill in effecting proper width adjustments, to mention but a few such heretofore prevailing difficulties. It is accordingly a major and general objective of the present improvements to simplify and to render foolproof, a window fan assembly embodying width-adjusting provisions so as to enable same quickly .and readily. to bev brought to a Width suchthat the assembly fully bridges the window opening. i Attention is directed to a copending application on somewhat similar subject matterffiled concurrently herewith by George A. Deli and Glenn A. Delf, entitled Variable-WidthWindow Fan Assemblies, and bearing Serial No. 133,391 and filing date of December 16, 1949.

The present invention may be summarized by reference to the selected disclosed embodiment thereof, as including in a complete and operative assembly, a window fan and driving motor together with a supporting frame which will usually but not necessarily consist of a housing or casing about the fan and motor, together with one or more horizontally adjustable, normally vertically disposed panel or Wing elementsslidably connected to the frame, and a simplified'double-armdevice, the elements of which are operatively con-v nected to the one or more adjustable wings, and with which is provided a simple form of:c1amping means for maintaining the arms clamped in aligned relation following the desired width adjustment.

A further important advantage and object of the present improvements is'realized in the provision of a pair of variably telescoping arm elements provided with a novel screw and eye type of. clamp serving to maintain the, adjusted relation of the panel or wing elements of the housing aswell as the arms, against casual wing extendh s or retracting movements and at the same.

z time providing assurance against any loosening effects due to vibration of the fan motor assembly.

Yet another important object of the invention is attained in a device of the general nature above noted and which may be formed for the most part of stock materials, with but a minimum of forming operations, and with a minimum of tooling expenditure.

The foregoing and numerous other objectives and advantages of the invention will more clearly appear from the following detailed description of a currently preferred embodiment, particularly when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a rear view of an adjustable width window fan assembly embodying the present improvements, and showing the sections of an adjustable distance arm and the slidable wing elements in adjusted position;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, enlarged, side elevational view of the connected arms and securement members of the width-adjustment as-' sembly; I

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is a sectional View as taken along line 44 of Fig. 2.

Referring now by characters of reference to the drawing, those 'parts of the assembly which are or may be of conventional construction in--' elude a propeller or fan of rotary type, and indicated at P, for which a driving motor M is provided, the latter being supported by hangers (not shown), in any suitable manner from the frame or housing generally indicated at FH. A planar rear wall element W of the housing proper is provided with a circular opening W0 and a fan guard FG is provided either or both forwardly and rearwardly of the fan P, as desired.

The vertical wall element W or other frame member usually formed of sheet steel or the like, is provided with a channel formation C along its upper horizontal margin and a companion such channel Cl along its lower margin. As will be well understood, the housing, casing or frame such as FH, is usually provided as con-.

structed of fixed dimensions, and over a minimum width such as to occupy the smaller sizes of windows generally encountered by the trade, and for the purpose of enabling the fan assembly fully to bridge the window opening as between the vertical pulley stiles or other side frame elements of the window structure, there is provided one, or usually a pairof extensible and retractible;

side panels or wing elements, a pair of which are indicated respectively at the left as WI, and indicated as W2 on the right (Fig. 1). Each of the wings is provided with a right angular flange WF along its free vertical margin, and similar such flanges WG at the bottom and WH along its top horizontal margin. These flanges are so proportioned as to he ,guidedly movablejwithin the channelifianges Cand Cl incident to width adjustment of the assembly.

It is assumed for brevity of description that a single adjustment assembly will adequately-serve the purpose of extending andretracting the wings WI and W2, although in larger sizes'a plu-' rality thereof may be employed. n single 'such assemly as shown, consists of a channelled .armor arm section, generally indicated at n and.

connected for example to the wingWLtogether with a companion such arm 2| connected to -the.

opposite wing W2. Spotwelding zones or rivets such as 22, serve .fixedlyto connect each arm to the, vertical-midpoint of the inner marginalpart of the adjacent panel or wing. Althoughjhe,

arms and 2|. may-besecured inany'of a number of Ways to the wings or side panels W and W2, a fixed or rigid connection vthereoi'in the zones 22, is entirely adequate, inasmuch .as the length adjustment of the arms or sections 2|,v 22 may be effected without necessarily changing theirrelative angularity. The .flexibility of the side panels or wingsis such as readily to per mit an out-of-line deflection of the elements '20 working clearance to assure an easysliding action of the bar within the channel, incident. to adjustment. 7

Further for the purpose of maintaining the arms in a fixed and-predeterminedadjusted setting, incident to variation of the combined length of the arms or sections 29, 2|, there isprovided adjacent the endof the-channel armj20,.a clip or ring 23 the shape of the aperture of which conforms closel; to theexternal dimensions and shape of the arm-20. The clip 23 may be either welded in .place at the end of arm 20, or.frictionally retained in place thereon, so as to be susceptible of a reasonablelimited range ofsliding. movement of the clipoverthe endportion of the adjacent arm. The sides of the clip 23are formed to extend-upwardly of the body and clip, and may bewelded together-to constitute an upward projection 24 (Fig. 2) .this projection being formed to present a fscrew-seat or face 25, presented at an-acuteangle to'the axis 0f the arms, and, as will later appeanserving-asan abutment.

for a clamp screw to bedescribed. The-abutment,,25 is shown as;generally circular in outline and somewhat larger in diameter than of the end of clampscrew, and may-if desired be made slightly concave .so as to provide a centerlng *eil'ect "on the .end :of the clamp screw. as the.

latter is threaded up.

A companion and'co'acting clip carried'by the bar 2|, is indicated at '26.. 'Theclip 26 may be formed-of a flat strip stock, and itsilower or body 'portionis provided with an eye-'21 of azgenerallyrectangular form, and of a width to permit passage therethrough of the flat arm or bar 2|, with not much more than a working clearance between the side faces of the bar and the side margins of the slot. In length, the slotted eye 21 slightly exceeds the width or vertical dimension of the bar 2|, so that when the clip 26 is relcasedpitmay be slidablymoved along'the bar, andsyet is-spermitted andnormallyassumes a slightly cocked or cramped position on the bar it: when the elements of this clamp are in place 7 and in looking. relation to the arms attached to thei siderpaneiswi and W2.

"Theafo'resaid cocked position of the apertured 'clip.2i. ion:-..the..,bar 2| is determined in part by flierangleuto the body of the member 21, of an extension. prolonged upwardly of the body of the clip, arfdnormaily lying at an acute angle tmtheiaxis of the arms. The extension, indicated at 30, is provided with a transverse tapped aperturefor the receptionof a clamp screw exemplifie'd'in the wing screw '31, the end of which.

as will now appear, centrally abuts'the screw seat 25 on the clip 23 above described.

The manner of effecting lateral adjustment of the one or more wing or panel elements of the present assembly 'together with the sections'of the distance ,piece comprised of the two arms 20" and .2l, is now thought 'to have been rendered apparent from the earlier. description hereinof the severalparts, but, it may Tbenoted' that "the usual installation practice. in smaller or moderate size fan assemblies willconsist o'f'liftingth'e window sash somewhat'above a heightto permit resting the fan assembly'on'the sillor other horizontal frame member within the window opening, and laterally -centered between the pulley stiles or otherllateral framing elements of the windowstructure. 'The clamp screw 3| will-now be'relea-sed, after which the interfitted 'end of the arms 20and 2| 'areiree 'to be moved along their axis. The, panels or wings, initially retracted,"are new each-extended so as to bring the one orpair thereof into snug abutment with the pulley stilesor other side'elements of the window frame. Assuming now that the clip 23 on arm 2ll either'remains in or is brought to the positionwsubstantlally as shown by Fig. 2, the wing screw 3| is-rotated to-assure thata substantial portion or its threaded "shank falls to the right '(Fig. -2)* of the extension 30,50 as to permit an adequatesubsequent-threading-up ac tion-of the screw. 'With the parts thus conditioned-and positioned, the clip 26 is moved as far to the left on bar-2|, as is permitted b the' current screw-setting, then is cocked as far'to the right (Fig.2) as permitted by the augmented length of the slot "or'eye 21, and while held in such position thawing screws! is threaded tight-' ly against the screw seat 25. Incase clipla is not secured flxedly-to'the end of the channelled arm 28, it wlll=appear that-the clip-23 similar .to clip 26, will also assume a slightly cocked and frictionally-retained relation to the end of the channelled arm.

With the thus related they are clamp-' ingly yetreleasa'bly retained'in an adjusted width. position. It will of course be impossible, since the panels or wings-abut the stiles along their lateralmarginsgfor .the .arms or wings to be further extended fin.a. horizonta1. direction. Similar-ly,:due'rtoatheflrmfahutment of the end of the. wing screw upon .the 2seat'.25,; it. is now impossible for. 'thearms to .baaiurtherrtelescoped at least on the wings and arms be manually effected so as, if possible, to locate the parts under a condition of slight compression, for maximum assurance against undesired vibration effects, and to obviate loosening effects on the parts which might otherwise occur after a considerable period of operation of the fan and motor.

It will now have appeared that the assembly as described will serve fully to attain each of the objectives hereinabove expressed as well as nuz merous others implied from the later description. Although the invention has been described by detailed reference to a single embodiment, the detail of description should be understood as instructive rather than in any limiting sense, inasmuch as numerous variants are possible within the intended scope of the claim hereunto appended.

We claim as"our invention:

1. In an adjustable width window fan assembly, a fan, a driving motor therefor, a frame structure supporting the fan and motor, a pair of longitudinally slidable wing elements located one at each opposite side of said frame structure, an

arm attached to each of said wing elements, one

of said arms being of a channelled section and the other said arm consisting of a bar adapted closely to interfit the channelled arm, a slotted member slidable along said bar, the slot therein being of appreciably greater length than the width of said bar, whereby the slotted member may be clamped or cocked in place on the bar, a threaded element carried by the slotted member and normally disposed at an acute angle thereto, and an abutment for the threaded element carried by the channelled arm, with the abutment surface thereon at an acute angle to the axis of said channelled member.

2. In a window fan assembly, a casing for insertion in the window opening, a fan and motor in said casing, a wing at one side of said casing, means providing for slidable horizontal movement of the wing member in guided relation to the casing, whereby to provide for a variable width of the casing assembly, a pair of distance arms for adjusting the setting of said wing, one such arm being attached to said wing, the other said arm being attached to a laterally opposite portion of the assembly, one of said arms consisting of a rigid bar, the other said arm consistwhich the said bar arm extends, which opening is of a sectional area in excess of that of the bar whereby the eye element may be cooked on the bar in aposition for its frictional retention thereby, a screw on the eye element extended at an acute angle to the bar arm by which it is carried, the opposite said arm being provided with an acute angled abutment located forengagement by said screw, whereby the eye element, screw and abutment coact as a clamp structure for limiting the telescoping relation of said arms and thereby establishing the adjusting position of said wing with respect to the casing.

3. The combination in a window fan assembly including a propeller, a motor therefor, a frame of fixed dimensions supporting the fan and motor, and adjustable wings one at each side 01' the frame and slidably connected thereto for width adjustment of the assembly, a horizontal arm attached to each of said wings, the arms being respectively of such section that one may telescopically interfit the other, a slide loosely embracing one of said arms, and including a projection above the body of the slide and having a tapped opening therethrough, a clamp screw threadedly engaging the tapped opening and located at an acute angle to the axis of the arm by which the slide is carried, a projection on the other said arm, and extended in a direction to be engaged by said clamp screw, the clamp screw cca-cting with said slide and projection to cock the slide in a frictionally-retained position on the arm by which it is carried, whereby to limit the extent of telescoping interengagement of said arms.

4. In a window fan assembly, a casing of fixed dimensions, a fan and motor within the casing, a wing structure located laterally of the casing and in a slidable, guided relation thereto, means for adjusting and fixing the position of the wing structure with respect to the casing, and comprised of a pair of slidably interengaging rigid arms, a vertically slotted clip having an eye quite loosely engaging, so that the clip is rockable and slidable over one of said arms, and having an acute angled extension in its upper portion, said extension being provided with a tapped aperture, a clamp screw engaging said tapped aperture and normally located at an acute angle to the axis of the arm by which the clip is carried, a fixed clip carried by the other said arm, and provided with an upper abutment having an acute angled seat adapted for engagement by the screw on the first said clip, the clamp screw being adapted, when threaded firmly against said abutment, to cock the first said clip on the arm by which it is carried, and thus to establish an adjusted minimum combinedlength of said arms for the purpose of fixing the position of the wing structure with respect to the casing.

5. In a window fan casing assembly including a pair of laterally adjustable wings, means by which the wings are slidably connected to the casing, a rigid arm fixedly secured to each wing, one of said arms consisting of a fiat metal bar, the other said arm consisting of a channelled member dimensioned so as to receive said bar in telescoping relation thereto, a pair of clips one carried by each of said arms, the clip on said one arm having a slotted eye portion the length of which exceeds the width of the arm by which it is carried, and having an acute angled upper projection provided with a tapped opening, a wing screw engaging said opening, the clip on the other said arm including an upper extension provided with an abutment sloped with respect to the axis of the arm by which it is carried, and adapted for engagement by the end of said clamp screw, the clamp with said clips and screw providing a limit of telescoping engagement of the arms, and thereby serving to establish a prede termined minimum spacing of the wing elements.

GEORGE A. DELF. ROBERT E. KORTUM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,309,375 Taylor July 8, 1919 1,702,117 Hoffman Feb. 12, 1929 2,192,079 Hinselmann et al. Feb. 27, 1940 2,448,671 Hord -Sept. 7, 1948 

